Captain Planet, He's A Hero (Environment Seminar Blog)

Precursor: Let me declare for the millionth time that I'm not the end-all of sustainable living. I have a heeeeeeeeell of a long way to go so pardon me if my critiques sound a bit like I'm a know-it-all. Trust me, they're not supposed to sound that way.

Yo Environmentalists I'm happy for you, and Imma let you finish, but "Going Green" is the biggest fad of all time! OF ALL TIME! For my first informal blog post I decided to tackle a subject that I've seen a lot of people already address: how "Going Green" is a fad. Now, to make a long story short, I completely agree; people are buying the cute bags and wearing the ironic shirts because they're, well, cute. People who wear that stuff usually aren't interested in the environment at all. Sure, they'll recycle a couple of times or use both sides of the paper every now and then but that's it. Truly sad, isn't it? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming to be an environmental saint; there are a lot of changes I could make to my lifestyle. So, I don't mean for this to sound like I'm a sustainability God who is looking down upon the fad followers of today. I'm not trying to sound pretentious. But, hey, some environmentalists--again, not all--do sound like that when they're trying to make a point. And that is another issue I have with the whole "being sustainable" business. A lot of people do it and act completely pretentious about it. "I save electricity. What? You don't? Pffft. You're a horrible person." Moreover, people will buy a hybrid or buy locally grown produce and then think they are the bomb like tick, tick. Once again I do not mean to say that all environmentalists are like this; it's just that a few bad apples can ruin the bunch, you know? It's unfortunate that these type of people are the ones who stand out most in my mind instead of the environmentalists who live sustainably because they actually care for the Earth. What really is a shame is that these pompous individuals will engage in some sustainable acts but will have no idea what they're doing. I bring to you an example from "Millionaire Matchmaker". (I like that show. Don't hate.) One of the millionaires that was featured had his own environmentally friendly clothing line. Cool right? Well, then he was set up on a date with a really nice guy who, at the restaurant, wanted to order a steak. The millionaire looked shocked and appalled, telling him that there are more environmentally friendly choices on the menu. That is true. However, when the millionaire's date asked him why ordering a steak harmed the environment, the millionaire couldn't give an answer. Over and over again he'd only repeat that it was "bad" but not why it was bad. The millionaire didn't know that the amount of land and resources used to raise the cows was what made steak a bad choice; all he knew was that it was "bad". It's sad to see people have a superiority complex when, to be frank, they themselves don't even know what the hell they're doing. The whole "I'm being more friendly towards the environment AKA I'm better than you are" attitude is quite annoying and the fact that some people don't even know why their choices are environmentally better multiplies that annoyance by ten. To sum my point up I leave you with this South Park episode. Mind you, South Park is very... well, come on, it's South Park. It's full of cussing, "did they really just do that?" and "oh my gaaaaaawd" moments so viewer discretion is advised. Seriously. South Park is offensive; I'm advising you times ten.

South Park Episode